Joseph Weatherby, a Kansas pioneer and Civil war veteran now living retired at Whitewater, Kans., was born in Logan county, Ohio, November 3, 1838. He is a son of Jesse and Eliza (Haines) Weatherby, and comes from old American stock. Jesse Weatherby, the father, was born in Mt. Holly, N. J., in 1812. His parents were Benjamin and Sarah (Matthis) Weatherby. During the War of 1812, Benjamin Weatherby served as major of a New Jersey regiment. He was at the battle of Lundy's Lane and other important engagements. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-five years. He was a son of Septomas Weatherby, a native of New Jersey, and of English descent. Eliza Haines, mother of Joseph Weatherby, was born near Petersburg, Va., a daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Ballinger) Haines, natives of Virginia. Joseph Haines was a son of Allen Haines, also a native of Virginia, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Some time shortly after 1820 the Haines and Ballinger families migrated from Virginia to Ohio, settling in Logan and Champaign counties, and many of their descendants now reside in that locality.

In 1816, when Jesse Weatherby, the father of our subject, was four years of age, his father, Benjamin Weatherby, migrated from New Jersey with a colony of immigrants, who drove across the Allegheny Mountains with a wagon train, which consisted of about forty wagons, and settled in the little frontier town of Columbus, Ohio, and here Benjamin Weatherby built the fifth house in that little village, which has since developed into the city of Columbus. About five years later Benjamin Weatherby moved with his family about fifty miles farther west. Indians were the principal inhabitants of that section then. Here Jesse Weatherby grew to manhood and was married to Eliza Haines, and the young couple began their married life on a tract of land which Jesse's father leased from Henry Clay, and Joseph Weatherby, the subject of this sketch, when a boy remembers having seen Henry Clay at times when he visited his grandfather, Benjamin Weatherby. Jesse Weatherby was a soldier in the Mexican war and served under General Scott. And one of the first incidents that made a lasting impression on the youthful mind of Joseph Weatherby was the Mexican war. After returning from the Mexican war, Jesse Weatherby remained in Ohio until 1858, when he went to Illinois, settling in McLean county, near Bloomington, where he resided until about the close of the Civil war, when he went to Iowa. In 1875, he came to Kansas and located in Barton county, and later went to Indian Territory and made his home with his son, Robert, until his death in 1896.

When the Civil war broke out, Joseph Weatherby enlisted on August 12, 1862, in Company K, One Hundred and Seventh Illinois infantry, under Capt. Sol. Williams. This regiment was assigned to Burnside's army until after the siege of Knoxville, when Burnside was assigned to the East. The regiment was attached to the Twenty-third army corps under General Schofield, and with this corps was with Sherman on his campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas. Mr. Weatherby was mustered out at Raleigh, N. C., June 21, 1865, when he returned to Washington and later returned to his Illinois home.

Mr. Weatherby was united in marriage on October 5, 1865, to Miss Mary E. Simpson, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Carlisle) Simpson Mrs. Weatherby was born in Ohio, and her parents were natives of Virginia, and of Scotch descent. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby began life on a farm in McLean county, Illinois. They remained there until 1876, when they came to Kansas and located in Barton county, where Mr. Weatherby homesteaded a claim, which at that time was on the real western frontier. He remained there until 1884, when he removed to Harvey county and settled three or four miles west of Whitewater, or rather where Whitewater is now located. He followed contracting and building for several years and erected a great many buildings in the new growing town of Whitewater. He built the first church in Whitewater, which was his first work in that town. After following contracting and building for a number of years, he accepted the position as foreman on Lord Harrison's ranch in Murdock township, and later returned to Whitewater, where he has since lived retired.

To Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby have been born the following children: William E.; deceased; Cora E., now the wife of Samuel Motter, of Murdock township; Emma J., deceased, wife of Charles D. Miller, who is also deceased, and they left one son, C. J. Miller, who now lives with Mr. Weatherby; Alice M. married Andrew J. Ulmer, Harvey county, Kansas.

Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Weatherby is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Masons, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been a life-long Republican and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has taken an active interest in local politics, and has served in several local offices of trust and responsibility.

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